The introduction of the iPad Friday morning sold an estimated 50,000 units in two hours, and also bumped Apple's "hobby," the Apple TV, from the front page of its online store. Also, a mysterious icon included in iPad promotional pictures gains attention, and Apple has expanded its site to explain features of the coming hardware in greater detail.

iPad sales estimated at 25,000 per hour

After it went on sale at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Friday, the iPad is estimated to have sold 51,000 in its first two hours. As discovered by Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune Brainstorm Tech, users at the Investor Village AAPL Sanity Board took their order numbers and attempted to crack the code to figure out total sales.

Victor Castroll, analyst with Valcent Financial Group and member of the AAPL Sanity Board, has been monitoring the spreadsheet and came up with the calculation of 51,000 units in the first two hours.

iPad preorder bumps Apple TV from front page of online store

In accepting preorders for the iPad on Friday, Apple made some minor adjustments to the front page of its online store. As a result, the Apple TV product and its accompanying picture were bumped and are no longer featured atop the store's main page.

The Apple TV used to be featured prominently alongside the company's line iPods, the iPhone and Macs. Now users must scroll down and find it in the left column under the "For iPod" heading.

Last month, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said his company still views the Apple TV as a "hobby," and noted that sales of the product simply don't compare to the consumer markets for smartphones, computers and MP3 players. Cook said he doesn't believe the Apple TV will remain dormant, but it may take time for the potential market for the device to grow.

Last October, Apple released the 3.0 software update for Apple TV, featuring a redesigned main menu that made navigating content simpler and faster. It also added support for the new iTunes LP and iTunes Extras formats.

Mysterious app icon gains attention

Apple updated its Web site with new pictures of the iPad Friday, and one screenshot in particular garnered attention from readers due to its inclusion of a mysterious icon. Included on the home screen Web page, the picture shows an icon on the far right of the device in landscape mode, and the application is not shown in any other screenshots.

Though the text is too small to read clearly, the icon appears to show the logo for the publication National Geographic. It's likely that the icon is for a digital version of the magazine, to be sold through Apple's iBookstore.

Apple expands on iPad features

As preorders began Friday, Apple also fleshed out the official iPad section of its Web site, adding greater detail on the iBooks application, 3G data subscriptions with AT&T, and more.

As before, all of the built-in applications on the iPad have their own page describing their function. Apple also has special dedicated pages for the iBooks application, which must be downloaded from the App Store, as well as the $9.99 Keynote, Pages and Numbers software.

A page devoted to 3G access on the iPad describes how users can start and cancel a no-contract data plan with AT&T direct from the device at any time. As was revealed at the product's unveiling, the data plans run $15 per month for 250MB of data, or $30 per month for unlimited access.

Apple also updated its total number of applications available on the App Store to 150,000. When the iPad was first announced, the company advertised that more than 140,000 applications would be available for the device at launch.

The introduction of the iPad Friday morning sold an estimated 50,000 units in two hours, and also bumped Apple's "hobby," the Apple TV, from the front page of its online store. Also, a mysterious icon included in iPad promotional pictures gains
Apple also updated its total number of applications available on the App Store to 150,000. When the iPad was first announced, the company advertised that more than 140,000 applications would be available for the device at launch.

A good start.

無心The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders., Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit__Edward Abbey

Apple lists the cost for the 3G data but I can't find any info on the typical activation fee. In fact, it reads as if their isn't one which would make this product even more attractive for the occasional activation for trips.

Yep. I have been an early adopter of Apple hardware for years, but I just couldn't pull the trigger this morning. The speed of the browser on my iphone (wifi) simply doesn't match the speed of my macbook pro. Maybe the iPad will be faster or maybe I am expecting too much, but I think I will have to wait til more people have them in their little grubby hands. Good luck Apple.

Apple lists the cost for the 3G data but I can't find any info on the typical activation fee. In fact, it reads as if their isn't one which would make this product even more attractive for the occasional activation for trips.

I still LOVE my Apple TV...had it now for over a year.... I never use it to buy/watch movies, but to centralize all your music in one place..with your best speakers, it can't be beat....Also great photo album and an easy place to watch podcasts/YouTube...works AMAZINGLY well with iPhone remote....

So whats the deal with the pre-orders...are they charging cards now or waiting? or putting a hold? It seems my accounts already been cleaned out

Apple typically has several charges against your card: mine is a debit card so I can see specifically in my online bank account; they charge $1.00 for each item ordered and strangely charge for the shipping if applicable. In my case, and I have received an email confirmation of the order, they charged $1.00 for my iPad, $1.00 for the case, $1.00 for the dock and $13.00 for the expedited shipping (on the 2 accessories). That's it. I have always liked that about Apple. Some companies put a hold on the full amount of the order which in my case with a debit card means that the funds are unavailable! So hurrah for Apple on this one! A measly buck to hold my iPad till April 3!!! Then free FEDEX Saturday delivery! Talk about customer satisfaction!

I have never known Apple bill me until they ship. I have my order confirmed and shipping info but no invoice so all seems as normal.

I agree, it's always been bill when shipped going through the store.

In addition, when I reserved my 32gb to be picked up a the local Apple Retail Store, there was no Order number. I did get a page to print and an email verifying the iPad 32gb wi-fi was reserved with instructions to pick up by 3:00 pm on April 3. I looked and could not find an order number anywhere...so if anyone knows where the order number is on a reservation, point me to it...

otherwise...the folks at Apple Sanity are not taking reservations into account.

This morning I hit the site at 7:29 central and the order page was up. The only two options were to order and ship. There was no option to Reserve and pickup. So I called 1800MyApple and it took 15 or so minutes to get to an Apple Rep. It took her another 5 or so mins to find out how to Reserve and Pickup....seems several people were all asking the same question. Sure enough, the URL she provided worked and I could make the reservation.

Having seen the numbers floating around all day about estimates...will be interested to see how the analysts factor in the number of reservations. Given the number of Apple Retail Stores in the US and what the line was like at the one I used to pickup the original iPhone and the 3G S...will be very interested to see what the line is like on April 3's morning.

Apple typically has several charges against your card: mine is a debit card so I can see specifically in my online bank account; they charge $1.00 for each item ordered and strangely charge for the shipping if applicable. In my case, and I have received an email confirmation of the order, they charged $1.00 for my iPad, $1.00 for the case, $1.00 for the dock and $13.00 for the expedited shipping (on the 2 accessories). That's it. I have always liked that about Apple. Some companies put a hold on the full amount of the order which in my case with a debit card means that the funds are unavailable! So hurrah for Apple on this one! A measly buck to hold my iPad till April 3!!! Then free FEDEX Saturday delivery! Talk about customer satisfaction!

I still LOVE my Apple TV...had it now for over a year.... I never use it to buy/watch movies, but to centralize all your music in one place..with your best speakers, it can't be beat....Also great photo album and an easy place to watch podcasts/YouTube...works AMAZINGLY well with iPhone remote....

I love mine too, but seriously thinking of either moving to a full mac mini or a win7 media center pc. I use hulu and netflix streaming a lot and looks like this won't ever happen on appletv and it also looks like they aren't about to start any kind of subscription plan for itunes to make tv shows more affordable.

I was hoping apple would incrementally add more capabilities to appletv, but it seems its dormant for a while.

Apple typically has several charges against your card: mine is a debit card so I can see specifically in my online bank account; they charge $1.00 for each item ordered and strangely charge for the shipping if applicable. In my case, and I have received an email confirmation of the order, they charged $1.00 for my iPad, $1.00 for the case, $1.00 for the dock and $13.00 for the expedited shipping (on the 2 accessories). That's it. I have always liked that about Apple. Some companies put a hold on the full amount of the order which in my case with a debit card means that the funds are unavailable! So hurrah for Apple on this one! A measly buck to hold my iPad till April 3!!! Then free FEDEX Saturday delivery! Talk about customer satisfaction!

Are you sure those are not your own bank's charges for using the debit card, I can go back years looking at my Amex account and no such one dollar charges from Apple have ever occurred, in stock items or pre orders.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Yep. I have been an early adopter of Apple hardware for years, but I just couldn't pull the trigger this morning. The speed of the browser on my iphone (wifi) simply doesn't match the speed of my macbook pro. Maybe the iPad will be faster or maybe I am expecting too much, but I think I will have to wait til more people have them in their little grubby hands. Good luck Apple.

Which iPhone? The 3GS is much faster than anything that came before it and web browsing on the iPad will be faster than on any iPhone as it is using faster hardware. Of course faster doesn't mean fast enough for you, I'd recommend trying one when you can. I'm in Canada so I don't have to worry about being an early adopter as I'm forced to wait almost a month after it ships in the US.

As preorders began Friday, Apple also fleshed out the official iPad section of its Web site, adding greater detail on the iBooks application, 3G data subscriptions with AT&T, and more.

RAW Support in the iPad is now called out specifically in the description for the camera connection kit; however, it's unclear whether the iPad can actually display RAW images or if it can merely offload them from the camera as was the case with iPods and the original camera connector.

Quote:

The iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your cameras USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.

I do not think that there will be a preloaded National Geographic app. Makes no sense. Not visible in the other images of the iPad -- and if it was preloaded it would have to be on all images. No such Nat Geo iPhone app icon looks like that. Could just be an example of 3rd party apps....

In accepting preorders for the iPad on Friday, Apple made some minor adjustments to the front page of its online store. As a result, the Apple TV product and its accompanying picture were bumped and are no longer featured atop the store's main page.

The Apple TV used to be featured prominently alongside the company's line iPods, the iPhone and Macs. Now users must scroll down and find it in the left column under the "For iPod" heading.

Last month, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said his company still views the Apple TV as a "hobby," and noted that sales of the product simply don't compare to the consumer markets for smartphones, computers and MP3 players. Cook said he doesn't believe the Apple TV will remain dormant, but it may take time for the potential market for the device to grow.

Last October, Apple released the 3.0 software update for Apple TV, featuring a redesigned main menu that made navigating content simpler and faster. It also added support for the new iTunes LP and iTunes Extras formats.

Kinda weird.. i wonder why its different, my order was placed at 5:32 a.m....oh wait, i just checked again, and my mistake, but the $764 and double $1 charges are under "pending"..haha it's my first time using the online banking